Transforming ILL, Acquisitions, & Collection Development

The Gift & Deselection Manager Desktop has had a five year run as the only open source collection management tool for processing gifts and items for weeding. It will be retired this year though people may continue to use it. The GDM Online is currently in beta testing and should be ready for release this summer. If you are interested in beta testing, please contact the development team at gist@idsproject.org.

A very minor update has been released for the GIST for ILLiad Webpages. Version 2.0.3 corrects an issue where the Date Picker icon was missing from the installer files, causing a broken image to appear.

Just in time for Open Access Week, SUNY Geneseo and The IDS Project proudly announce the release of Building Responsive Library Collections with the Getting It System Toolkit, a free ebook, available at

TheGetting It System Toolkit (GIST) is a suite of free and open source tools & software, leverages systems to optimize library acquisitions and deselection workflow, reducing the staff time necessary to make informed decisions and process materials. The Toolkit is divided into two functions:

GIST for ILLiad consists of three components that enhance the ILLiad® interlibrary loan request management software: addons, webpage customizations, and the acquisitions manager. All three components may be selectively utilized in ILLiad, for instance, ILLiad web pages may be applied to enhance the end-user request interface to add full-text discovery, or an ILLiad Addon can help ILL’s purchase on demand program discover the best way to purchase items difficult to borrow. By combining all three and customizing these components for your library, you achieve significant benefits and optimize the combination of Acquisitions and ILL services.

The GIST Gift & Deselection Manager (GDM) is designed to manage and streamline library workflow for processing gifts and evaluating materials for weeding. It is standalone open-source software that automates the gathering of data for evaluating donations; including holdings, edition comparisons, full-text, and other data. The GDM also enables collection managers to perform item-by-item deselection or use the batch analysis tool to create custom deselection reports for large weeding projects.

Building Responsive Library Collections with the Getting It System Toolkit combines helpful how-tos from the developers themselves, and first-hand implementation accounts from users of these time-saving tools. The volume is split into the Toolkit’s use with ILLiad and GDM, providing easy reference for users. This manual is an invaluable resource to any library using, or considering using, the Getting It System Toolkit.
Edited by the GIST Team at SUNY Geneseo, with contributions by:

Kerri Goergen-Doll, Oregon State University; Eric Joslin, Washington University in St. Louis; Ryan Litsey, Texas Tech University; Micquel Little, Monroe Community College (formerly at St. John Fisher College); Katherine Mason, Central Michigan University (formerly at Old Dominion University); Kate Ross, St. John Fisher College; and Susanna Van Sant, Tompkins Cortland Community College.

The free ebook is available via PDF & EPUB on the IDS Project Press website:

We wanted to share a useful application of the GIST batch analysis – you can find course readings in batch with local call numbers – making it easy to pull from your collection and place on course reserves. Instead of asking and waiting for the professor to say what is on the course readings to place on reserves, simply run GDM’s batch analysis tool on a list of ISBN’s from your bookstore and select Include Local Call Lookup.

This doubled the number of textbooks and assigned reading we placed on reserves – so it can save students money, save faculty time, and eliminate the work of asking faculty for lists and recalling books checked out.